CROSS-BORE RISK ASSESSMENT AND RISK MANAGEMENT TOOL

Application No. 19/179,835

• Filed: Apr 15, 2025
• Priority: Jun 27, 2018 — provisional 62/690,590
  • Mar 14, 2019 — provisional 62/818,456
  • Jun 26, 2019 — continuation of 12/229,841
  • Feb 02, 2023 — continuation of 12/307,533
• Examiner: EL-HAGE HASSAN, ABDALLAH A
• Assignee: Hydromax Usa LLC
• OA Round: 1 (Non-Final)

Office Action

DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013 is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of the Application
This action is a first action on the merits in response to the application filed on 04/15/2025.
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20 filed on 04/15/2025 are currently pending and have been examined in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 04/15/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the claims at issue are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO internet Web site contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit http://www.uspto.gov/forms/. The filing date of the application will determine what form should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of the co-pending Applications No. 16/452,922 and No. 18/163,662.
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the relevant claims from 19/197,835 contain only minor variations or extra claim language which is not further limiting.
This is a provisional nonstatutory double patenting rejection because the patentably indistinct claims have not in fact been patented.

19/179.835
18/163.662
16/452,922
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The claims in the application under examination anticipates the claims in applications 18/163.662 and 16/452,922 with minor variation. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skills in the art to realize the claims in application 19/179.835 with the benefits of accurate cross-bore identification for risk prioritization.
Conclusion
The following prior arts made of record and not relied upon are considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Sooy et al. (US 9219886 B2) teaches a field of underground utility construction and inspection system and method for analyzing image data in underground boring operations. Brueckner (US 20160104071 A1) teaches a method of continuously generating and updating an estimate of the spatial probability across an area of interest for events to occur in the near future that are similar to a set of geospatially and temporally indexed events in the recent past in that area.
Any inquiry concerning this communication from the examiner should be directed to Abdallah El-Hagehassan whose telephone number is [phone]. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday- Friday 8 am to 5 pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rutao Wu can be reached on [phone]. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is [phone].
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the patent application information retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information of published applications may be obtained from either private PAIR or public PAIR. Status information of unpublished applications is available through private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have any questions on access to the private PAIR system, contact the electronic business center (EBC) at [phone] (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO customer service representative or access to the automated information system, call [phone] (in US or Canada) or [phone].
/ABDALLAH A EL-HAGE HASSAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3623

Prosecution Timeline

• Apr 15, 2025: Application Filed
• Jun 23, 2026: Non-Final Rejection mailed — §DP (current)